Tagged

Our little family in Aug, 2003

Elaine on top of "the sibs".

Alex does not want his picture taken.

Ben and Georgia (actually Gwyneth at the time) in utero.

Most of the cousins.

Jer and Elaine, best buds. Oh, to go back in time.

Kissing Cousins.

The actual photo to fulfill the tag.

I've finally been tagged with a tag that I can actually figure out how to do! Without help! It is to go to your 4th photo folder (or event, for you maccies out there) and then the 4th picture, and post it on your blog. So here is mine. It is of Alex (~22 months) and Jeremy (barely 4 yrs) sleeping in the car after a day on the grassy knoll in Dallas. I think this was when Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Tammy were visiting, and they wore the kids out. But it might have been a different grassy knoll outing. We went there fairly often. I'm posting more photos from that folder, which are of a trip we took in Aug 2003 to Sedona. And then I tag . . . Emily K P and Chelsea, cuz it has been ages since Emily updated, and I know Chelsea will follow through. (Somebody tell Emily . . . does she ever get on the computer?)

Don't Kill Bats! (by Alex)

Don't kill bats they help farmers. I do not know [why] people will kill bats. I mean it's crazy! I hope somone will tell them the right thing to do. And if they get the mesege I hope they do it. I read a book about bats and it said they [people] block caves. I feel bad for bats. I will wish upon a star. Because I think bats are Inportint well even I used to think bats wir scary but then I learnd that there not.

Ben faces the future

Today after church, while getting into the car, Ben for some reason said: "Boys rock! Girls suck!" I reprimanded the use of the word "suck", then the other kids reminded Ben that he would be marrying a girl someday. He replied, "I know. I gotta figure out who to love, but I can't think of ANY girl to love right now."

My Musical Geniuses

After enduring this song for about 15 minutes I decided I'd better capture it for posterity.

Halloween, Finally

I didn't get a decent shot . . . for various reasons . . . (what kind of face is Liam making?) but at least you can see their costumes here. The little boys also had gloves and boots, but it was 90 deg. for Pete's sake! We took off their helmets after the pictures. The little boys also threw tantrums over their baskets, they didn't want the vampires (which have their names on them . . .) so the older boys kindly switched after much coercion from frustrated mom. Alex actually had a last minute costume change. He was originally a wizard, but he ripped my ancient Japanese kimono aka wizard robe (Jeremy 2007) aka jedi robe (Jeremy 2005) so he lost the privilege of wizardry and had to join the military (Jeremy 2006) sans weapon instead. At least Elaine got creative and "made" her own costume, with a little help from Twice as Nice and the DI. We lost the rope belt she was planning to use, and the straw hat was too scratchy, so she is wearing a comfortable hat of mine.

How far along am I?

Just click on the number of days on the widget and it will take you through several counting methods: weeks along, days along, weeks left, days left. And the image of the baby is the approximate age as well, the limb length to body length to head size gradually changes to correspond with its age in utero. Pretty cool, even though it doesn't look very cuddly yet . . . just wait until 7 or 8 months . . .

Ultrascreen Results and Fun Visit

I got a call from the specialist who "read"/"interpreted" my latest ultrasound measurements and we have encouraging news. My initial risk for carrying a Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) baby was 1/56 (based on my age alone). After the measurements, that risk has dropped to 1/1300. My initial risk for carrying a Trisomy 18 baby was something like 1/200 (I can't remember) but that risk dropped to 1/10,1000. So, although that is only an indicator of risk, and not a sure thing, my odds look good. But like I said before, if God blesses us with an extra-sweet spirit that needs extra care, we can handle it.

We had a good time at Dave's High School Reunion last weekend, and hurried back to our house for a fun visit from some good friends from 10-13 years ago. Dan and Maria Townsend came to Tucson for the weekend for his Architecture Class Reunion. It was like stepping back in time to see them. Maria is as gorgeous and youthful looking as ever. We had no problem picking conversations up right where we left off 10 years ago. (Well, we have spoken on the phone a few times since then.)

So, now we just need to get together with the rest of you from that extraordinarily idyllic time of our lives! (Maybe it wasn't idyllic for you . . . but it would still be fun to see you!)